Tim Challies is at it again! Click the above link for your chance to win all 6 volumes of the Reformed Expository Commentary series! It is a fantastic series that you will all enjoy! Good luck in the contest!

Mark Jones, who has an excellent blog on Thomas Goodwin, had a late entry for the Lloyd-Jones contest. Since I only got two entries originally I told him he could submit his to receive a copy of the Eusebeia issue on Lloyd-Jones. Here is his entry below:

Standing in the Westminster Chapel pulpit where the ‘Doctor’ used to preach, I wondered what it must have been like to have sat in the rows listening to Martyn Lloyd-Jones thunder down (and up) to his hearers the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, I never had the privilege of hearing him preach, except on cassette tape which, still wonderful, can never replace the real thing. Lloyd-Jones’ influence on me, then, has come through his books; and what an influence they have been!

The very first words I read of Lloyd-Jones have remained firmly entrenched in my memory ever since. It was when I read ‘To me the work of preaching is the highest and greatest and most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called’ that I realized the magnitude of the task to which I hoped to aspire. Those words are on the front cover of his wonderful book, Preaching & Preachers. In that book, the mind of the greatest preacher of the twentieth century revealed to me what preaching really is; it is a burden from God, a message that goes forth with authority that seeks ‘make alive’ both God’s Word and the sinner who hears the Word. It is not lecturing or pulpiteering, but an organic display
of God’s power; a power that can only be attributed to the Holy Spirit. And certainly that must be the principal reason for Lloyd-Jones’ effectiveness as a preacher. In a day and age where there is much lecturing going on from the pulpits of today’s churches, I can’t help but pray that God would raise up many more Lloyd-Jones’ who can bring back to life the ‘art of prophesying’.

Besides the aforementioned book, the other work I wish to mention is Lloyd-Jones’ ‘spiritual classic’, to use John Stott’s phrase, Studies in the
Sermon on the Mount. There is no other book on my shelves that has been read and re-read as that book. It is worn, highlighted, and underlined from the first to the last page. The reason for this has to do with both the style and the content. As you will no doubt know, Lloyd-Jones had a very conversational way of writing (most of his books had been transcribed from sermons he had
preached). I felt as if he was speaking directly to me. There was none of the pedantic nonsense that we see from so many so-called books on theology. Instead, we had a man speaking in such a way that you couldn’t help but feel gripped by the insight of his words. Lloyd-Jones doesn’t make his points as quickly as A.W Pink, for example. But, like a true physician, methodically brings you to see the problem and solution.

I don’t always agree with Lloyd-Jones, but that’s what makes me so indebted to him. He’s a man whose faults, and they are certainly there, are not hidden. But even amidst these faults, the graces and talents of this man stand even taller. Oh that the Lord would raise up another Martyn Lloyd-Jones!

Thanks Mark for the great entry! Mark will receive the same issue that Crawford and Tim received earlier. Remember, if you are interested in receiving this issue of Eusebeia dedicated to the life and thought of Lloyd-Jones then please contact me. The issue is $10 CAD.

It was unfortunate but I only had two entries for the Lloyd-Jones contest! It perhaps is indicative of the fact that I don’t have a lot of readers to my blog! But, since I usually get about 40 hits a day I would have figured that more people had been influenced by Lloyd-Jones. The first entry I received from Crawford Gribben who was formerly Lecturer in Renaissance Literature and Culture at the University of Manchester but who is now heading to Trinity College, Dublin. His entry is found below:

Martyn Lloyd-Jones died on my sixth birthday. I never heard him preach, though friends in our Brethren assembly had travelled long distances to benefit from his ministry of the Word of God, and Presbyterian friends in our town had known him intimately over several decades. I was in my late teens before I discovered that he had ever existed. But what a difference that discovery made! In a crucial period of my life, I turned again and again to Lloyd-Jones for encouragement, guidance and pastoral help. He helped me by pointing me back to the Bible.

When I think about my experience of the ministry of Lloyd-Jones, it’s hard to pick one title or one sermon that has made a particular impact. I can vividly remember reading his biography while on holiday in Ireland; reading his series of books on Romans as I rode on the bus to and from university; listening to his sermon on worship in 1 Cor 14:26 while driving back from church; and reading his book on Preachers and Preaching while learning what the source, duties and goal of Christian ministry might be. It’s hard to distinguish these experiences. But I think that’s the point. The texts and tapes made sense when they were combined together. The theology fed into the preaching, the preaching into the worship, and the life informed and was informed by it all. That’s what made sense of his ‘logic on fire.’

The other is not necessarily an entry per se but someone was recommended for the prize because of their work on Lloyd-Jones. Tim Ashcraft has written extensively on Lloyd-Jones on the blog TheoSource. His entries can be found in the following series, “Lloyd-Jones on Ministerial Reading”:

In hearing though of his awarding of a free issue, Tim provided me the following:

I had just gotten married when Dr. Lloyd-Jones went to be with the Lord. I had never heard of him and wouldn’t for several more years. I “stumbled” across his works in an unusual way – through reading homiletics. Long story, but the newer books I was reading kept referring to a book titled Preaching and Preachers, so I bought a copy and was blown away by this man’s handling of his subject. I obtained more of his books and the biography by Iain Murray, which I’ve read three times. I felt almost like I had known ML-J personally. His works have helped me through some doctrinal struggles, mainly God’s sovereignty in salvation and Keswick teaching. I’ve been glad to commend Lloyd-Jones to many friends, especially those in the ministry.

Both Crawford and Tim then will receive a free copy of the newest issue of Eusebeia: The Bulletin of the Andrew Fuller Centre for Reformed Evangelicalism dedicated to D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. I encourage you to read widely in the great corpus of works by Lloyd-Jones. He is continuing to influence many people even today! “He sleeps yet still speaks!”

The most recent issue of Eusebeia: The Bulletin of The Andrew Fuller Centre for Reformed Evangelicalism has just been put into print and I have received it in my hands today (It is available for $10 CAD each. Contact me if you would like a copy). The issue is dedicated to the life and thought of the good Doctor, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, former pastor of the Westminster Chapel in London.

“The Piety of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Submitting to the Spirit of God” by Geoffrey Thomas

“D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and his Reading of Church History” by Michael A. G. Haykin

To celebrate the release of this issue, I am giving away three copies of this issue. But, these are only going the the few readers I have on my blog with a love for Dr. Lloyd-Jones (i.e., they have read some of Lloyd-Jones works). So here we go, I want you to give me an explanation of how a particular book or a particular sermon or what not of Dr. Lloyd-Jones has impacted you and your ministry. Please be as detailed as possible. The best three entries will be posted here on the blog and will receive a free copy of this issue of Eusebeia dedicated to Dr. Lloyd-Jones. The deadline for submission is June 11. Good luck to all that enter!